The massive Route 66 Rendezvous in San Bernardino, Calif., gets a lot of accolades every year. Black Voice News Online singled it out for its diversity — especially at a time when its host city is struggling with record homicide rates.
DeJaun and Valerie Lofton have been coming to the rendezvous for 8 years. “This event brings the community together. It crosses all racial and ethnic barriers. What everybody comes to see are the cars, the workmanship, the detail, the cruising,” said DeJaun. “It’s not unusual to see Black, white and Latino heads hovering under one hood. Looking around it’s like everybody is on cruise control. It’s a dream world out here.”
Young Haydn Wright says he will remember Rendezvous 2006 as a beacon of hope. “Maybe if we have a party like this every weekend, there wouldn’t be any more murders and hurting people. All the kids would be safe. Wouldn’t that be good?”
Route 66 sometimes was referred to as a “the Mother Road for white people,” and not without reason. For instance, the Rock Cafe in Stroud, Okla., long before Dawn Welch bought it, was known for not allowing black patrons to use the front door — if they were served at all. Tales of discrimination like this are distressingly common in the history of Route 66.
Modern-day Route 66 can’t afford to be that exclusive. Tourists of multiple languages and continents drive it every year. The route goes through dozens of American Indian reservations. In New Mexico, Spanish-speaking people predate English-speakers by 150 years. Many Asian-Americans also are preserving historic motels along the road.
The Mother Road should be for everybody. The organizers of the Rendezvous understand this.